Article: Audiophile Style State of the Union

[Don Hills]

27 minutes ago, Teresa said:

I’m a subjectivist and I have no trouble not commenting in threads about things I don’t believe in, many of those threads I don’t even visit.

 

I'm an objectivist and I have no trouble not commenting in threads about things I don’t believe in, many of those threads I don’t even visit.

[Don Hills]

6 hours ago, tapatrick said:

...

... if I can go to the sub forum and follow technical discussions and advice without having to wade through pages of snark and repetition of fixed positions then this will be appreciated by myself and I imagine many others too. ...

 

Good point. Maintain and expand the objective area as a repository of factual, science based information. People set in their beliefs will avoid it. Those who wonder whether what they hear is true will take a sneaky peek to find out if their beliefs are founded in reality.

 

Part of the problem is that beliefs without much scientific basis, such as USB cables sounding significantly different, are part of the enjoyment of this hobby. I enjoy driving my car more after I've just cleaned and polished it. I feel it goes faster and handles better. Objectively, I know it performs no better but I enjoy it more. So it is with system tweaks and listening.

 

So let people enjoy their tweaks and heard differences. The differences could be real or imaginary but the enjoyment is real.  And let there be somewhere they can go to find out whether the reason for the difference is real or imaginary. Don't try to educate some "poor, deluded fool" in a subjective based thread. But equally, don't accept "but I can hear the difference, it's night and day. If you can't, you have cloth ears / your system is rubbish" in the objective sub-forum unless it comes with, for example, an independently repeatable test result.

 

[Don Hills]

24 minutes ago, audiobomber said:

I don't accept your analogy. USB cables sound different in my system, and also to most audiophiles. Polishing my car does not make it feel faster or handle better. Obviously not much point in debating it here,  but I didn't want to let it slide.

 

That kind of statement is the basis for most of the disagreement and rancor on this board. Since there are engineers and scientists who disagree with you, it is clearly not an established fact that only audiophiles believe that USB cables can sound significantly different. 

 

Relevance of analogy noted. Difference of opinion accepted. You also provide a good example of behaviour that should not be accepted in the objective sub-forum: appeals to authority without links to evidence.

 

[Don Hills]

4 hours ago, manueljenkin said:

... I got harassed heavily, on something that was later measurably demonstrated (look above). I am not taking the risk until I have faith in this place. ...

 

Are you referring to Kunchur's measurements of aural time resolution, or the ability of 48 KHz sampling to accurately capture this resolution? If the latter, I've created a thread about it. ☺️